No Forced Switch

With the right treatment plan, children, teens, and adults with Crohn’s or colitis are doing great things. They’re living healthier, more active, and happier lives, and nothing should impede that progress.

New medications to treat Crohn’s and colitis are becoming more accessible. Some of these new medications include biosimilars – biologic drugs that are similar, but not identical, to innovator biologics. Of course, we want doctors and their patients to have access to biosimilars along with existing treatments. Read our position paper here.

However, provincial governments are considering forcing people on certain biologics to switch to lower-cost biosimilars. Because biosimilars are not exact replicas of innovator biologics, they may not work the same for some people with inflammatory bowel disease.

We know how hard it can be for someone with Crohn’s or colitis to finally find a treatment that works for him or her. Sometimes it can take years and multiple rounds of trial and error before landing on the treatment that’s most effective – the one that offers stability and the ability to live well. Why should someone be forced to possibly risk that hard-earned stability?

Quite simply, they shouldn’t.

If you, like us, believe that people living with Crohn’s and colitis should be able to choose their treatment, and not be forced to switch medication based on cost alone, please take a moment to voice your opinion to your local government official through our new online advocacy platform. Together, we can ensure policy-makers keep the best interests of people with Crohn’s and colitis in mind as they determine how to handle biologic drugs and biosimilars.

To learn more about the issue, and join thousands of Canadians across the country who are speaking out for patient and doctor rights, click here.

Quick FactFaits en bref

Canada has among the highest incidence rates of Crohn's and colitis in the world.

1 in 140 Canadians lives with Crohn’s or colitis.

Families new to Canada are developing these diseases for the first time.

Incidence of Crohn’s in Canadian kids under 10 has doubled since 1995.